July 5, 2025 • 30 mins
More and more people are learning about mental health - and maybe self-diagnosing - on TikTok. We dig into the good and the bad of that in this classic episode.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm welcome to stuff one ever told you a protection
of I Heart Radio, and welcome to another classic. Samantha
and I have been talking a lot about health lately
because we both had some issues that we've had to
(00:30):
seek medical attention for. And we're both having trouble now
that we've finally taken that step getting that medical Yeah,
which is no laughing matter, but it's just we put
it off for so long and now it's like, you
really really should have done it earlier, at.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Least in my case, but I did.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Recently, both of us have seen medical professionals, and I
there's some things really stuck out with me with my
visit to the hospital. And one thing was I could
tell that some people thought I was trying to diagnose myself.
And this is something that you have talked about. You
(01:16):
did an episode about being on TikTok and diagnosing yourself
more around mental health than anything else. But I could
tell that some people because I would I said it
in the episode where I talked about it.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
But I went to like fifteen.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Doctors, not doctors, but like personnel, and some of them
I think were like, she saw this online.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Now she thinks she's got our social media.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
I wasn't even saying I was just saying, like, I,
you know, it always happens in the morning, and I've
read that if I know how it sounds, I know
how it sounds. But I'm not on TikTok, and that's
not what was happening. But I do think a lot
of people do this kind of a running joke about
like the web, the web in d oh, I'm dying thing.
(02:06):
But what you're saying to me, oh no, never, never, Samantha,
but yes, please enjoy this classic episode. Hey, this is
Annie and Samantha and welcome to stephan I never told
you a prediction of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yeah, and welcome to another Monday Mini. And for today's
Monday Mini, we're gonna play What's Samantha's Diagnosis with y'all.
I'm having a moment right now because I just told
Aandie I'm smelling something very floral. I'm trying to figure
out why because I'm in my little cubby and honestly,
this foreign smells almost like a perfume. So I'm like
(02:53):
freaking out. I'm like, am I having a stroke. I'm
concerned I don't think so. And if you see me
doing things, please let me know. Might be an odd episode.
Yeah anyway, But I mean I say all this kiddingly,
but I mean I'm not gonna lie when I say
I might go look on TikTok. I might go look
on TikTok. Honestly, as much as I love TikTok, there's
(03:16):
so many things that TikTok I've told me that I'm
starting to get really concerned about a lot of things,
and as in fact, I've also learned about conditions that
I didn't know existed and feeling like maybe that's part
of my problem because I really feel like there's something
off all the time. And when I say something off,
I see like something's imbalanced in my body. And it
could be that I'm going through perimenopause, which we're going
(03:38):
to talk about in a later date, because I'm like,
what is that and have I entered that? And what
does that look like? As well as maybe it's something
that I've always been going through that didn't I did
not realize was normal. When I talk to people, I'm like, oh,
that's not normal. I found out that people Asian people
have a gene that makes their ear wax different from
other people. I was like what, And then I started
(03:59):
ask skin around like is this the type of earwax
you have? And they're like yes, And I was like what.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
I love that you asked around about.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Like white people, tell me what this is.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
I know you asked multiple.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
I asked multiple people, but like, this is all because
of TikTok. These are things that I'm like, huh, I
did not know this. Again, like I said, because I'm
watching these things and these things are popping up on
my for you page, I sorry to become a little
concerned with all the similarities I've seemed to be having
with all these mental and medical help things that I'm like, what,
(04:41):
what's going on? And with that, I began to wonder
if others were feeling and noticing this too. Uh. And yes,
there are article after article with similar questions, and even
one is concerned on how it's affecting the youth today.
But I will say we're going to go back and
forth bit on this for a minute, because it also
(05:02):
it's one of those moments of like we need things
like this to be taken seriously. There are two different
perspectives obviously, with this one. It's a good thing because
it brings awareness to mental health and physical health for
those who've been gas lit by the medical filled u.
You can see why women You can see our episodes
about why women are not believed by the medical professionals,
(05:23):
and even our episode on women with autism and ADHD
and how misdiagnosed that is for women specifically, and for
those in the black community specifically, like for those in
the marginalized community, how often this is misdiagnosed or not
diagnosed at all, or just disregarded altogether. And the information
on how to be taken seriously by their doctors has
been validating and even life saving, to the point that, yes,
(05:45):
I know doctors are really, really, really really really upset
with WebMD and getting more so with TikTok because people
are like I saw this on TikTok, I googled this
on WebMD, and yes, I think that TikTok has become
the new web ms, which many have talked about recently.
I saw a Reddit post about it like it's just
the new MMD and people complaining about it. I'm like,
(06:06):
it's kind of true, but we talked about before any how,
TikTok has become one of the best or the bigger
search engines for people today, like instead of going to Google,
they're going to TikTok. And I wonder if that's partially
because not only did Google get bought out essentially by
people who wanted their content to be at the top
(06:29):
or who can do this and who has the more
money companies, big corporate companies coming in and for a while,
TikTok was not like that. It has drastically changed. Please
see previous episodes with Bridget about consumer stuff as well
as influencer stuff and who's getting bought out. We could
talk about this genocide that is currently occurring and influencers
(06:51):
who are being bought out by pro specific sides. I
guess you can say, you know, like they've been called out.
They've talked about big lobbyists going after politicians to try
to run against other politicians that they did not like
their agenda. We've known that's happened with NRA, but they're
actually using TikTok and social media influences like that and
buying people out like that. So we know that TikTok
(07:14):
has changed, unfortunately from what it was originally when you
could get more probably genuine, I guess posts. Whether it's
people talking about their own experiences with whatever diagnosis they
may have or whatever physical element they may have, and
being able to understand what it is and for a
lot of people figuring out, oh, that's what's been happening
(07:34):
with me, POTS, POTS, post les, tachycardia syndrome, and I
hope I said that right. Which is POTS, which has
like dizziness or lightheadedness, fainting or almost fainting, noticeable heartbeats
or heart palpitations, chest pains, shortness of breath, the chickening,
and sweating. Those are some of the symptoms. I'm wondering
if I need to question my doctor about that, because
(07:55):
I definitely have fainted, not a lot, because I've seen
people with severe POTS who think constantly like they have
to have a service dog because this dog can feel it.
But a lot of those are like, yeah, I do that,
that's not normal. Not everybody does that. I thought we
all did that, So there's like different questions. Those things
like that can be really really helpful and life saving.
In a twenty twenty two Time article titled for Some
(08:17):
Women with ADHD, TikTok is the first place they felt heard.
So they talk about how TikTok has been amazing for
them for the women who have figured this out, And
here's a quote from a woman who discovered her diagnosis
after researching and finding videos on TikTok. For many women
who see these videos in their feed, it's the first
(08:37):
time they've learned about some of the symptoms of ADHD,
beyond the most widely known hyperactive and trouble focusing quote.
As an overachieving child who got good grades, ADHD was
never on my radar. Lace told Time in an email,
I was shocked to discover through TikTok that my experiences
were consistent with ADHD. And she's not the only one.
We talked about this before, so many like her finally
(08:59):
had and definitions for things that she was doing. They
were on a clinical level, such as masking or even
being misdiagnosed, concluding that women were quiet due to being
shy or even less intelligent instead of seeing that they
were being inattentive due to ADHD and was incorrectly diagnosed
or was told that's not a diagnosis of ADHD, which
(09:22):
again we've talked about it previously. We've had guess Kate
who was amazing talking about her eye diagnosis of ADHD
and what that looks like for women and why it's
so hard even today. But the message is spreading and
social media has been a big part of that. TikTok
specifically has been a huge part of that. There's also
(09:43):
the awareness that helps destigmatize a mental health diagnosis. More
people are able to talk about their experiences and talk
about what they did and even how they were finally
able to get people to listen to them, which helped
others along the way. There were several articles about how
it's decema tie mental health for men and helping men
get help or realizing that they need help and what
(10:05):
that help can do for them. So those are some
amazing things that have occurred on TikTok specifically. But in
an article written about teenagers and TikTok from CNN, they
talk about the good and the bad and some parents
phylis it has helped them with their teens And here's
a quote from that. Julie Fulter from Raleigh, North Carolina
said she began following ADHD influencers who were able to
(10:28):
better explain behaviors impulsivities and how the condition is related
to executive functioning, so she can help her daughter navigate
her diagnosis. Meanwhile, another person from upstate New York feels
mixed about her daughter using social media for reasons related
to her autism diagnosis. She's doing a lot of self
discovery right now in so many areas, and social media
(10:49):
is a big part of that, she said. I know
social media gets a bad rap, but in her case,
it's hard to tell. Sometimes if the pros outweigh the
cons and it goes on. And many adults appear to
credit social media with helping them identify lifelong mental health struggles.
One person, a thirty five year old professional photographer, says
she sought guidance from a professional after seeing videos pop
(11:12):
up on her TikTok for you page about eighty HD Okay,
this for you page really has me thinking. And I've
made this statement and I'm not trying to be ablest
(11:33):
or any of that. I'm not making enlighten me in them,
but I'm like, maybe I am on the spectrum because
at this point in time, I'm having a rough time
with these types of cognitive functioning social functioning, and I'm
like what is this? But let's be very honest when
it comes down to coming out of the pandemic, getting older,
(11:54):
getting tired, things change, and not that I couldn't be
on the spectrum. I could get that diagnosis, but that
the more you hear things, the more you start kind
of convincing yourself yes that's me, which for some is
very helpful. For others, it could go down like a
dangerous route again, like I'm saying, like I'm smelling things,
(12:15):
what is happening? That's why it seemed to be okay, Annie,
would you agree?
Speaker 1 (12:19):
I would, but you know I'm keeping an eye out.
I'm keeping this, Please keep an eye out.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
But again that same article about teenagers, they talk about
how there's the ups and downs, but it seems with
even more risk with the self diagnosing. So from that article,
it says a growing number of teens are turning to
social media such as Instagram and TikTok for guidance, resources,
and support for their mental health to find conditions that
(12:46):
they think match their own, a trend that has alarmed parents, therapist,
school counselors. According to interviews with CNN, some teens start
to follow creators who discuss their own mental health conditions, symptoms,
and treatments. Others have come across posts with symptom checklists
to help decide if they meet the criteria for a diagnosis,
and it continues. However, many parents and experts expressed concerns
(13:10):
over how self diagnosing and mislabeling could exacerbate teens behaviors,
make them feel isolated, and be counterproductive in giving them
the help they need. In a worst case scenario, teens
could set themselves on a path to receiving medication for
condition they do not have, and once teens search for
this mental health content, the algorithms may keep surfacing similar
(13:33):
videos and posts. Some parents and therapists have found that
once teens decide they have a condition, it can be
hard to convince them otherwise again and in the article
there's some theories as to why this is growing bigger
for teens, It says some experts believe teens may be
over identifying with a specific label or diagnosis, even if
(13:56):
it is not a fully accurate representation of their struggles,
because because a diagnosis can be a shield or justification
of behavior in social situations.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Quote.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
With the amounting pressure that young people face to be
socially competitive, those teens with more significant insecurities may feel
that they will never measure up, said a psychologist in
New York. She goes on a team may rely on
diagnosis to lower other expectations of their abilities. Of course,
this might be a boomer take, and I say this
(14:28):
nicely to all the boomers, but that idea of like
I in my days, we never had these things and
so dismissing people with those diagnosts because as a person,
just just a random person being out here in the world,
as well as working in the social work world and
with mental health, everyone has something like I think it
(14:50):
would be incorrect to say that there is normalcy like
some There is a diagnosis for everyone, whether it is
by social pressure or whether it is by mental health, biology, environment,
any of those things do come on. We know PTSD
is a big thing, and especially a lot of us
feeling that pressure are just from the pandemic from recession.
(15:14):
All of these things have a name. There's a level
of anxiety that everybody is going through. There's a level
of depression that most people have gone through, especially during
the holidays, like it's there and for teenagers who also
watch social media on a constant or on social media
on a constant like that level is pretty high. So
I think that it would be disrespectful to dismiss teens
(15:39):
in general saying you've been looking at too or anybody
you've been looking at too much social media, because that's
part of the problem to begin with, you know, when
we go up one step back, three steps type of conversations.
Mental health could be a part of that as well.
And that too much diagnosis. We had that with the
when medications were finally coming out and people started talking
about needing medication, that being too medicated, and I think
(16:00):
that's that's the true story. I've seen that where kids
being diagnosed with the simplest things, or being forced to
be diagnosed with the simplest things so they could sedate kids,
which I thought was horrible. Like I saw kids on
ADHD medication because they wouldn't go to sleep. I was like,
what is happening? Why are we putting them on a
prescribed medication for that? So there's definitely this level that
(16:24):
I've seen, But when it comes to social media, there
is this back and forth. It's like how much is
too much? Is this too much information given to kids
who are smart enough to know the system and work
the system, and I say, what the system. I'm one
of those people I can manipulate into a diagnosis. I've
done it as someone who's like, but I also did
it because I knew that there was something wrong and
(16:45):
people were not listening to me, and I knew the
links that you had to go to to get those medications.
So there's this level of like, and it's not everybody's
like what it is this balance because of the system
that's been created. You have social media coming in here
and let me help you, and that has fed into
the TikTok algorithm, which is making TikTok money, lots and
(17:07):
lots of money. That's also what a reminder is also
those who are the disingenuous, bad players who have found
that kind of It's been around with snake oil salesmen.
They have found a new platform and it has worked.
So if you can build trust and saying I know
this is what you're going through because I'm going through
(17:28):
this and this has helped me, they can sell stuff.
Don't get me wrong, I think TikTok has done a
great job, especially the followers and the individuals and people
in there where they call that out when they find
it out. It's beautiful to see. I don't want anybody
to go down in flames. But at the same time,
if you're feeding misinformation to people to make a profit
and could be hurting those individuals, yeah, I hope you
(17:50):
go down in flames. You know. So all of these
things are happening, But this type of rise of teenagers
diagnosing themselves has come as in fact they all There
was also a trend I didn't know about this because
I guess I'm not as cool as I thought impossible
called undiagnosed, where they the kids who have been diagnosed
(18:11):
would make jokes about how they were cured now, and
they even use those who had eating disorders, like a
one girl joked I have eight a mil I'm cured
type of conversation. And it is not because they're being disrespectful.
They're trying to make a joke, as we have often
done for ourselves about their own condition, trying to joke
(18:32):
through it, essentially, But it kind of has fed into
this like misinformation to other teens, where it can lead
to a bad, harmful pattern where they backtrack and say
I can solve this myself. Now that's not always the case. Again,
a lot of them are doing this in like a
tongue in cheek way, but it's coming off as m.
This actually may be a bad trend m for other teens. Again,
(18:57):
there's also those who actually think TikTok has trivialized they're
actual diagnosis. So there was a writer who has been
diagnosed with autism who talks about that specifically of like, okay,
everybody's joking now that because they don't like loud sounds,
that's autism, you know, and that's the spectrum, and not
(19:20):
that it can't be once again, but to put it
lightly in making a joke very ablest, but trying to
accept it at the same time, because you see on
TikTok's kind of that balance of like, okay, but how
much have we put into this content that is now
trivializing those who have struggled all of their lives with
that diagnosed, so with actually being diagnosed and may have
(19:42):
this like be on the further spectrum of autism. We're
not going to talk about Cia in any way, but
if you kind of look at what she did with
that and how she did both of those things, not
only did she almost made it like graphically over the top,
where it was all the caricatures of people who have
autism or who are on the spectrum, to trivializing it,
(20:04):
to make it excuses for others. It's kind of just
like m But is this partly because social media has
also led into that as well? And yes I have
been on autism, uh the spectrum TikTok and they you know,
and ADHD TikTok and the overlapping is I mean, like
(20:25):
over the top. And then this whole conversation about being
neurodivergent versus uh, neurotypical, which again came to my conversation
of like, but there's no such thing as really anybody
being neurotypical if we really look down into what society
has kind of created in itself, whether it's the anxiety
or the push or the depression like and PTSD in
(20:46):
itself and the trauma in itself, Like, it's kind of
like does that actually exist? So I don't know. So
that term, the over blanketing term, is an interesting term
to me. Again, I know I'm not I'm not saying
I'm a professional any list, but just seeing what it
is if we come to realization that the norm is
actually being neurodivergent it seems, but the spectrum does change,
(21:11):
and then the respect that we give those terms are
really important. And yeah, a lot of the articles that
I've seen that we've talked about talk about that terminology
is really, really, really important, mainly because it does differentiate
from a true diagnosis versus a false diagnosis. I guess
one of the things they talk about is high functioning.
That is not a clinical term, which is also why
(21:35):
that's kind of been banned. And we talk about the
spectrum in itself. Yeah, again, a big reminder, people make
money off this content. They can make tons of money
just by having a certain amount of views and accruing
a lot of followers. Again, there's some amazing content creators
who do good things. There's a lot of bad players
as well. So what are some things that we can
(21:58):
do to lessen this issue? I could just get off TikTok.
I don't know. I really like the dog videos. And
right now, following Neil the Seal Elephant seal down in Australia,
have you seen anything about Neil the Seal you know.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
And not on TikTok, but yes, yeah, isn't it interesting
when you're like, how do you find things?
Speaker 3 (22:19):
Do you find things? It's been fantastic. That's just one creator.
I think it goes by J. C. J. A y
Cee and I think he works with like the government
to try to keep Neil safe. But he's just like Neil.
Those people need to go to work, get off their lawn.
Like it's just fantastic content. Fantastic content, okay, but some
(22:42):
other ways to look at it outside of just getting
off of TikTok. And this came from the University of
Colorado's medical school. They said, look at credentials. Who is
giving advice or posting what's their background? And I know
people can put whatever they want because there's been several
call outs for people who said their doctors are in
the medical field that it turns out they're not. But
actually trying to see if you can research deep enough
(23:05):
like you usually those who are in the profession will
show you credentials because they realize how important that is,
So look for that. Look at the data being presented.
Are they throwing a lot of words together again like
high functioning and all these things, like you've got to
talk about where this is coming from look for resources,
ask them for resources, and then following that up realizing
(23:27):
there's no such thing as quick fixes. Saw content about
someone saying this is the over the counter adderall drug.
Y'all be careful, just just be careful, And they even
(23:50):
talked about how to fix or recalculate your for you page.
So if you're following some content creators that are specialized
to that, if you unfollow them sometimes that'll help.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
For me.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
I don't follow those content readers, but I still get it.
There is a way, and I think you just need
a Google or actually you can look it up in
TikTok to completely wipe off your for you algorithm and
it starts over again. So there is a way to
do that. But I've discovered as so as my partner,
just as talking about something, that stuff will pop up. Yeah,
(24:24):
at like, it's not that we will look at it,
we don't look it up anything, it's just that we're
talking about it. So that tells you we know we're
being watched. I'm not even that I'm not even that cool,
stop watching me. But there's ways to do that. You
can also go through and report and say you're not
interested because I've done that oftentimes, so you can get
off of those types of contents. But yeah, there's this
(24:47):
whole back and forth about how well this is going
for our society. I'm calling this doctor TikTok because again,
like WebMD, I start falling in that rhythm of like,
maybe this is what's wrong with me. But at the
same time it may not be inaccurate, and it does
validate how I feel. I still think I'm not a elliptic.
Thanks tik tok.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Also a listeners, some listeners have written into you.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Yeah, I feel like all the listeners like these are
the diagnoses we'd give you. You may want to go
see a doctor, And I'm like, you're right, you're right,
you're right. And that's just the reminder that if these
things are in question, it's okay to ask, don't act
on it, don't try to self medicate, don't do all
(25:31):
these things. Don't make it your excuse necessarily. But trying
to get a diagnosis going to a doctor saying these
are the following things, maybe not say I got this
off a TikTok. I have a feeling that I roll
will be They'll probably know anyway, they'll probably know anyway,
but in general, just like, these are the things I'm
concerned with. These are the things I didn't know was normal.
Can you help me it was not normal rather in
(25:52):
your physical health, like being dissy and passing out.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yeah, I mean that's it.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
I again, like you kept saying throughout this, I feel
like that's the balance of it because pre TikTok, I've
had multiple people in my life come up to me
and say, like the episode you did about women and
autism change my life because we don't talk about it
because it has been historically ignored or misdiagnosed.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
And so it's both.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
It's like it is good that we're talking about it
more and we're seeing more things, and people are like, oh, okay,
maybe it's that. Maybe it's that I know when somebody
I think it was you told me like having the
at the back of my neck, I have a very
strange thing about that with shirts and hair, and it
is like, oh okay, so that's not like completely normal thing,
(26:40):
but it is also yes you. I mean I could
I always joke web MD as like a horoscope. I
could read it and be like, I probably have this
and it could be nothing close to what I have like,
so it is like a it's good, it's bringing awareness,
but it is important to know where it's coming from
and to do further research before you you self medicate
(27:04):
or self diagnose. So yeah, it's just both.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
You know.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Well when you said that the horoscoping thing, actually there
was one article that talked about the horoscope effect.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Really, Yes, what is called people.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Read symptoms online or hear someone discuss the experience and
feel connected to it so much so that they both
now believe they may have the same diagnosis. The bold
proclamations as of like predicting it or something along the lines.
But yeah, apparently that is a whole theory within psychologists
when it comes to predicting or the disorder they used
(27:39):
to TikTok.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
I just feel like a lot of times we all
do it. But there are some symptoms that are just
common amongst a lot of things, right, And for me,
one of them is my heart beats really fast. Not
all the time, but sometimes it's fast. Yeah, and that
is just a symptom amongst all things. And it could
(28:01):
just be and I fingers cross suspected is I'm anxious?
Speaker 3 (28:05):
Right?
Speaker 1 (28:06):
But if I go on to womend it's like Jesus.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
This and you would do good. Yeah, but we can't
negate that because women more women died than men every
year of a heart attack or heart related uh fatalities.
So part of this is like being told we're being paranoid,
but at the same time it's actually true because no
(28:29):
one listens and what which part do we listen to?
And it should be better safe than sorry, But we
as women have been so shamed yeah, to be healthy
that we're we are afraid to go to doctors half
the time.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Yes, and it costs money and it takes time. So
it's like really unfortunate. Some people's healthcare is really bad. Yes,
yes it is. But yeah, so I think it's like
more complicated than saying like one side is bad. I
don't know, right, it's just it's it's more nuanced than that, right. Yes, Well,
(29:05):
thank you for bringing this to Samantha. Believe we're going
to talk about episode coming up about why you were
thinking about this, but our our calendars and flux, so
we'll see.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
I think this is going to be ahead of this,
but yes, we'll.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Talk about why why you were thinking about this?
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Yes, all right, Well in the meantime, you can contact
us listeners if you have any thoughts about this. Our
email is Stephania mom Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com. You
can find us on Twitter at mom Stuff podcast, or
on Instagram and TikTok at stuff one. Never told you
we have a teapubook store and we do have a book. Yes,
and thanks as always too, our super producer Christina, our
(29:45):
executive producer Maya, and our contributor Joey. Thank you and
thanks to you for listening. Steffan never told you the
production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio,
you can check out the Art radio app, Apple podcast,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm welcome to stuff one ever told you a protection
of I Heart Radio, and welcome to another classic. Samantha
and I have been talking a lot about health lately
because we both had some issues that we've had to
(00:30):
seek medical attention for. And we're both having trouble now
that we've finally taken that step getting that medical Yeah,
which is no laughing matter, but it's just we put
it off for so long and now it's like, you
really really should have done it earlier, at.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Least in my case, but I did.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Recently, both of us have seen medical professionals, and I
there's some things really stuck out with me with my
visit to the hospital. And one thing was I could
tell that some people thought I was trying to diagnose myself.
And this is something that you have talked about. You
(01:16):
did an episode about being on TikTok and diagnosing yourself
more around mental health than anything else. But I could
tell that some people because I would I said it
in the episode where I talked about it.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
But I went to like fifteen.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Doctors, not doctors, but like personnel, and some of them
I think were like, she saw this online.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Now she thinks she's got our social media.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
I wasn't even saying I was just saying, like, I,
you know, it always happens in the morning, and I've
read that if I know how it sounds, I know
how it sounds. But I'm not on TikTok, and that's
not what was happening. But I do think a lot
of people do this kind of a running joke about
like the web, the web in d oh, I'm dying thing.
(02:06):
But what you're saying to me, oh no, never, never, Samantha,
but yes, please enjoy this classic episode. Hey, this is
Annie and Samantha and welcome to stephan I never told
you a prediction of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yeah, and welcome to another Monday Mini. And for today's
Monday Mini, we're gonna play What's Samantha's Diagnosis with y'all.
I'm having a moment right now because I just told
Aandie I'm smelling something very floral. I'm trying to figure
out why because I'm in my little cubby and honestly,
this foreign smells almost like a perfume. So I'm like
(02:53):
freaking out. I'm like, am I having a stroke. I'm
concerned I don't think so. And if you see me
doing things, please let me know. Might be an odd episode.
Yeah anyway, But I mean I say all this kiddingly,
but I mean I'm not gonna lie when I say
I might go look on TikTok. I might go look
on TikTok. Honestly, as much as I love TikTok, there's
(03:16):
so many things that TikTok I've told me that I'm
starting to get really concerned about a lot of things,
and as in fact, I've also learned about conditions that
I didn't know existed and feeling like maybe that's part
of my problem because I really feel like there's something
off all the time. And when I say something off,
I see like something's imbalanced in my body. And it
could be that I'm going through perimenopause, which we're going
(03:38):
to talk about in a later date, because I'm like,
what is that and have I entered that? And what
does that look like? As well as maybe it's something
that I've always been going through that didn't I did
not realize was normal. When I talk to people, I'm like, oh,
that's not normal. I found out that people Asian people
have a gene that makes their ear wax different from
other people. I was like what, And then I started
(03:59):
ask skin around like is this the type of earwax
you have? And they're like yes, And I was like what.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
I love that you asked around about.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Like white people, tell me what this is.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
I know you asked multiple.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
I asked multiple people, but like, this is all because
of TikTok. These are things that I'm like, huh, I
did not know this. Again, like I said, because I'm
watching these things and these things are popping up on
my for you page, I sorry to become a little
concerned with all the similarities I've seemed to be having
with all these mental and medical help things that I'm like, what,
(04:41):
what's going on? And with that, I began to wonder
if others were feeling and noticing this too. Uh. And yes,
there are article after article with similar questions, and even
one is concerned on how it's affecting the youth today.
But I will say we're going to go back and
forth bit on this for a minute, because it also
(05:02):
it's one of those moments of like we need things
like this to be taken seriously. There are two different
perspectives obviously, with this one. It's a good thing because
it brings awareness to mental health and physical health for
those who've been gas lit by the medical filled u.
You can see why women You can see our episodes
about why women are not believed by the medical professionals,
(05:23):
and even our episode on women with autism and ADHD
and how misdiagnosed that is for women specifically, and for
those in the black community specifically, like for those in
the marginalized community, how often this is misdiagnosed or not
diagnosed at all, or just disregarded altogether. And the information
on how to be taken seriously by their doctors has
been validating and even life saving, to the point that, yes,
(05:45):
I know doctors are really, really, really really really upset
with WebMD and getting more so with TikTok because people
are like I saw this on TikTok, I googled this
on WebMD, and yes, I think that TikTok has become
the new web ms, which many have talked about recently.
I saw a Reddit post about it like it's just
the new MMD and people complaining about it. I'm like,
(06:06):
it's kind of true, but we talked about before any how,
TikTok has become one of the best or the bigger
search engines for people today, like instead of going to Google,
they're going to TikTok. And I wonder if that's partially
because not only did Google get bought out essentially by
people who wanted their content to be at the top
(06:29):
or who can do this and who has the more
money companies, big corporate companies coming in and for a while,
TikTok was not like that. It has drastically changed. Please
see previous episodes with Bridget about consumer stuff as well
as influencer stuff and who's getting bought out. We could
talk about this genocide that is currently occurring and influencers
(06:51):
who are being bought out by pro specific sides. I
guess you can say, you know, like they've been called out.
They've talked about big lobbyists going after politicians to try
to run against other politicians that they did not like
their agenda. We've known that's happened with NRA, but they're
actually using TikTok and social media influences like that and
buying people out like that. So we know that TikTok
(07:14):
has changed, unfortunately from what it was originally when you
could get more probably genuine, I guess posts. Whether it's
people talking about their own experiences with whatever diagnosis they
may have or whatever physical element they may have, and
being able to understand what it is and for a
lot of people figuring out, oh, that's what's been happening
(07:34):
with me, POTS, POTS, post les, tachycardia syndrome, and I
hope I said that right. Which is POTS, which has
like dizziness or lightheadedness, fainting or almost fainting, noticeable heartbeats
or heart palpitations, chest pains, shortness of breath, the chickening,
and sweating. Those are some of the symptoms. I'm wondering
if I need to question my doctor about that, because
(07:55):
I definitely have fainted, not a lot, because I've seen
people with severe POTS who think constantly like they have
to have a service dog because this dog can feel it.
But a lot of those are like, yeah, I do that,
that's not normal. Not everybody does that. I thought we
all did that, So there's like different questions. Those things
like that can be really really helpful and life saving.
In a twenty twenty two Time article titled for Some
(08:17):
Women with ADHD, TikTok is the first place they felt heard.
So they talk about how TikTok has been amazing for
them for the women who have figured this out, And
here's a quote from a woman who discovered her diagnosis
after researching and finding videos on TikTok. For many women
who see these videos in their feed, it's the first
(08:37):
time they've learned about some of the symptoms of ADHD,
beyond the most widely known hyperactive and trouble focusing quote.
As an overachieving child who got good grades, ADHD was
never on my radar. Lace told Time in an email,
I was shocked to discover through TikTok that my experiences
were consistent with ADHD. And she's not the only one.
We talked about this before, so many like her finally
(08:59):
had and definitions for things that she was doing. They
were on a clinical level, such as masking or even
being misdiagnosed, concluding that women were quiet due to being
shy or even less intelligent instead of seeing that they
were being inattentive due to ADHD and was incorrectly diagnosed
or was told that's not a diagnosis of ADHD, which
(09:22):
again we've talked about it previously. We've had guess Kate
who was amazing talking about her eye diagnosis of ADHD
and what that looks like for women and why it's
so hard even today. But the message is spreading and
social media has been a big part of that. TikTok
specifically has been a huge part of that. There's also
(09:43):
the awareness that helps destigmatize a mental health diagnosis. More
people are able to talk about their experiences and talk
about what they did and even how they were finally
able to get people to listen to them, which helped
others along the way. There were several articles about how
it's decema tie mental health for men and helping men
get help or realizing that they need help and what
(10:05):
that help can do for them. So those are some
amazing things that have occurred on TikTok specifically. But in
an article written about teenagers and TikTok from CNN, they
talk about the good and the bad and some parents
phylis it has helped them with their teens And here's
a quote from that. Julie Fulter from Raleigh, North Carolina
said she began following ADHD influencers who were able to
(10:28):
better explain behaviors impulsivities and how the condition is related
to executive functioning, so she can help her daughter navigate
her diagnosis. Meanwhile, another person from upstate New York feels
mixed about her daughter using social media for reasons related
to her autism diagnosis. She's doing a lot of self
discovery right now in so many areas, and social media
(10:49):
is a big part of that, she said. I know
social media gets a bad rap, but in her case,
it's hard to tell. Sometimes if the pros outweigh the
cons and it goes on. And many adults appear to
credit social media with helping them identify lifelong mental health struggles.
One person, a thirty five year old professional photographer, says
she sought guidance from a professional after seeing videos pop
(11:12):
up on her TikTok for you page about eighty HD Okay,
this for you page really has me thinking. And I've
made this statement and I'm not trying to be ablest
(11:33):
or any of that. I'm not making enlighten me in them,
but I'm like, maybe I am on the spectrum because
at this point in time, I'm having a rough time
with these types of cognitive functioning social functioning, and I'm
like what is this? But let's be very honest when
it comes down to coming out of the pandemic, getting older,
(11:54):
getting tired, things change, and not that I couldn't be
on the spectrum. I could get that diagnosis, but that
the more you hear things, the more you start kind
of convincing yourself yes that's me, which for some is
very helpful. For others, it could go down like a
dangerous route again, like I'm saying, like I'm smelling things,
(12:15):
what is happening? That's why it seemed to be okay, Annie,
would you agree?
Speaker 1 (12:19):
I would, but you know I'm keeping an eye out.
I'm keeping this, Please keep an eye out.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
But again that same article about teenagers, they talk about
how there's the ups and downs, but it seems with
even more risk with the self diagnosing. So from that article,
it says a growing number of teens are turning to
social media such as Instagram and TikTok for guidance, resources,
and support for their mental health to find conditions that
(12:46):
they think match their own, a trend that has alarmed parents, therapist,
school counselors. According to interviews with CNN, some teens start
to follow creators who discuss their own mental health conditions, symptoms,
and treatments. Others have come across posts with symptom checklists
to help decide if they meet the criteria for a diagnosis,
and it continues. However, many parents and experts expressed concerns
(13:10):
over how self diagnosing and mislabeling could exacerbate teens behaviors,
make them feel isolated, and be counterproductive in giving them
the help they need. In a worst case scenario, teens
could set themselves on a path to receiving medication for
condition they do not have, and once teens search for
this mental health content, the algorithms may keep surfacing similar
(13:33):
videos and posts. Some parents and therapists have found that
once teens decide they have a condition, it can be
hard to convince them otherwise again and in the article
there's some theories as to why this is growing bigger
for teens, It says some experts believe teens may be
over identifying with a specific label or diagnosis, even if
(13:56):
it is not a fully accurate representation of their struggles,
because because a diagnosis can be a shield or justification
of behavior in social situations.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Quote.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
With the amounting pressure that young people face to be
socially competitive, those teens with more significant insecurities may feel
that they will never measure up, said a psychologist in
New York. She goes on a team may rely on
diagnosis to lower other expectations of their abilities. Of course,
this might be a boomer take, and I say this
(14:28):
nicely to all the boomers, but that idea of like
I in my days, we never had these things and
so dismissing people with those diagnosts because as a person,
just just a random person being out here in the world,
as well as working in the social work world and
with mental health, everyone has something like I think it
(14:50):
would be incorrect to say that there is normalcy like
some There is a diagnosis for everyone, whether it is
by social pressure or whether it is by mental health, biology, environment,
any of those things do come on. We know PTSD
is a big thing, and especially a lot of us
feeling that pressure are just from the pandemic from recession.
(15:14):
All of these things have a name. There's a level
of anxiety that everybody is going through. There's a level
of depression that most people have gone through, especially during
the holidays, like it's there and for teenagers who also
watch social media on a constant or on social media
on a constant like that level is pretty high. So
I think that it would be disrespectful to dismiss teens
(15:39):
in general saying you've been looking at too or anybody
you've been looking at too much social media, because that's
part of the problem to begin with, you know, when
we go up one step back, three steps type of conversations.
Mental health could be a part of that as well.
And that too much diagnosis. We had that with the
when medications were finally coming out and people started talking
about needing medication, that being too medicated, and I think
(16:00):
that's that's the true story. I've seen that where kids
being diagnosed with the simplest things, or being forced to
be diagnosed with the simplest things so they could sedate kids,
which I thought was horrible. Like I saw kids on
ADHD medication because they wouldn't go to sleep. I was like,
what is happening? Why are we putting them on a
prescribed medication for that? So there's definitely this level that
(16:24):
I've seen, But when it comes to social media, there
is this back and forth. It's like how much is
too much? Is this too much information given to kids
who are smart enough to know the system and work
the system, and I say, what the system. I'm one
of those people I can manipulate into a diagnosis. I've
done it as someone who's like, but I also did
it because I knew that there was something wrong and
(16:45):
people were not listening to me, and I knew the
links that you had to go to to get those medications.
So there's this level of like, and it's not everybody's
like what it is this balance because of the system
that's been created. You have social media coming in here
and let me help you, and that has fed into
the TikTok algorithm, which is making TikTok money, lots and
(17:07):
lots of money. That's also what a reminder is also
those who are the disingenuous, bad players who have found
that kind of It's been around with snake oil salesmen.
They have found a new platform and it has worked.
So if you can build trust and saying I know
this is what you're going through because I'm going through
(17:28):
this and this has helped me, they can sell stuff.
Don't get me wrong, I think TikTok has done a
great job, especially the followers and the individuals and people
in there where they call that out when they find
it out. It's beautiful to see. I don't want anybody
to go down in flames. But at the same time,
if you're feeding misinformation to people to make a profit
and could be hurting those individuals, yeah, I hope you
(17:50):
go down in flames. You know. So all of these
things are happening, But this type of rise of teenagers
diagnosing themselves has come as in fact they all There
was also a trend I didn't know about this because
I guess I'm not as cool as I thought impossible
called undiagnosed, where they the kids who have been diagnosed
(18:11):
would make jokes about how they were cured now, and
they even use those who had eating disorders, like a
one girl joked I have eight a mil I'm cured
type of conversation. And it is not because they're being disrespectful.
They're trying to make a joke, as we have often
done for ourselves about their own condition, trying to joke
(18:32):
through it, essentially, But it kind of has fed into
this like misinformation to other teens, where it can lead
to a bad, harmful pattern where they backtrack and say
I can solve this myself. Now that's not always the case. Again,
a lot of them are doing this in like a
tongue in cheek way, but it's coming off as m.
This actually may be a bad trend m for other teens. Again,
(18:57):
there's also those who actually think TikTok has trivialized they're
actual diagnosis. So there was a writer who has been
diagnosed with autism who talks about that specifically of like, okay,
everybody's joking now that because they don't like loud sounds,
that's autism, you know, and that's the spectrum, and not
(19:20):
that it can't be once again, but to put it
lightly in making a joke very ablest, but trying to
accept it at the same time, because you see on
TikTok's kind of that balance of like, okay, but how
much have we put into this content that is now
trivializing those who have struggled all of their lives with
that diagnosed, so with actually being diagnosed and may have
(19:42):
this like be on the further spectrum of autism. We're
not going to talk about Cia in any way, but
if you kind of look at what she did with
that and how she did both of those things, not
only did she almost made it like graphically over the top,
where it was all the caricatures of people who have
autism or who are on the spectrum, to trivializing it,
(20:04):
to make it excuses for others. It's kind of just
like m But is this partly because social media has
also led into that as well? And yes I have
been on autism, uh the spectrum TikTok and they you know,
and ADHD TikTok and the overlapping is I mean, like
(20:25):
over the top. And then this whole conversation about being
neurodivergent versus uh, neurotypical, which again came to my conversation
of like, but there's no such thing as really anybody
being neurotypical if we really look down into what society
has kind of created in itself, whether it's the anxiety
or the push or the depression like and PTSD in
(20:46):
itself and the trauma in itself, Like, it's kind of
like does that actually exist? So I don't know. So
that term, the over blanketing term, is an interesting term
to me. Again, I know I'm not I'm not saying
I'm a professional any list, but just seeing what it
is if we come to realization that the norm is
actually being neurodivergent it seems, but the spectrum does change,
(21:11):
and then the respect that we give those terms are
really important. And yeah, a lot of the articles that
I've seen that we've talked about talk about that terminology
is really, really, really important, mainly because it does differentiate
from a true diagnosis versus a false diagnosis. I guess
one of the things they talk about is high functioning.
That is not a clinical term, which is also why
(21:35):
that's kind of been banned. And we talk about the
spectrum in itself. Yeah, again, a big reminder, people make
money off this content. They can make tons of money
just by having a certain amount of views and accruing
a lot of followers. Again, there's some amazing content creators
who do good things. There's a lot of bad players
as well. So what are some things that we can
(21:58):
do to lessen this issue? I could just get off TikTok.
I don't know. I really like the dog videos. And
right now, following Neil the Seal Elephant seal down in Australia,
have you seen anything about Neil the Seal you know.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
And not on TikTok, but yes, yeah, isn't it interesting
when you're like, how do you find things?
Speaker 3 (22:19):
Do you find things? It's been fantastic. That's just one creator.
I think it goes by J. C. J. A y
Cee and I think he works with like the government
to try to keep Neil safe. But he's just like Neil.
Those people need to go to work, get off their lawn.
Like it's just fantastic content. Fantastic content, okay, but some
(22:42):
other ways to look at it outside of just getting
off of TikTok. And this came from the University of
Colorado's medical school. They said, look at credentials. Who is
giving advice or posting what's their background? And I know
people can put whatever they want because there's been several
call outs for people who said their doctors are in
the medical field that it turns out they're not. But
actually trying to see if you can research deep enough
(23:05):
like you usually those who are in the profession will
show you credentials because they realize how important that is,
So look for that. Look at the data being presented.
Are they throwing a lot of words together again like
high functioning and all these things, like you've got to
talk about where this is coming from look for resources,
ask them for resources, and then following that up realizing
(23:27):
there's no such thing as quick fixes. Saw content about
someone saying this is the over the counter adderall drug.
Y'all be careful, just just be careful, And they even
(23:50):
talked about how to fix or recalculate your for you page.
So if you're following some content creators that are specialized
to that, if you unfollow them sometimes that'll help.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
For me.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
I don't follow those content readers, but I still get it.
There is a way, and I think you just need
a Google or actually you can look it up in
TikTok to completely wipe off your for you algorithm and
it starts over again. So there is a way to
do that. But I've discovered as so as my partner,
just as talking about something, that stuff will pop up. Yeah,
(24:24):
at like, it's not that we will look at it,
we don't look it up anything, it's just that we're
talking about it. So that tells you we know we're
being watched. I'm not even that I'm not even that cool,
stop watching me. But there's ways to do that. You
can also go through and report and say you're not
interested because I've done that oftentimes, so you can get
off of those types of contents. But yeah, there's this
(24:47):
whole back and forth about how well this is going
for our society. I'm calling this doctor TikTok because again,
like WebMD, I start falling in that rhythm of like,
maybe this is what's wrong with me. But at the
same time it may not be inaccurate, and it does
validate how I feel. I still think I'm not a elliptic.
Thanks tik tok.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Also a listeners, some listeners have written into you.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Yeah, I feel like all the listeners like these are
the diagnoses we'd give you. You may want to go
see a doctor, And I'm like, you're right, you're right,
you're right. And that's just the reminder that if these
things are in question, it's okay to ask, don't act
on it, don't try to self medicate, don't do all
(25:31):
these things. Don't make it your excuse necessarily. But trying
to get a diagnosis going to a doctor saying these
are the following things, maybe not say I got this
off a TikTok. I have a feeling that I roll
will be They'll probably know anyway, they'll probably know anyway,
but in general, just like, these are the things I'm
concerned with. These are the things I didn't know was normal.
Can you help me it was not normal rather in
(25:52):
your physical health, like being dissy and passing out.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yeah, I mean that's it.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
I again, like you kept saying throughout this, I feel
like that's the balance of it because pre TikTok, I've
had multiple people in my life come up to me
and say, like the episode you did about women and
autism change my life because we don't talk about it
because it has been historically ignored or misdiagnosed.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
And so it's both.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
It's like it is good that we're talking about it
more and we're seeing more things, and people are like, oh, okay,
maybe it's that. Maybe it's that I know when somebody
I think it was you told me like having the
at the back of my neck, I have a very
strange thing about that with shirts and hair, and it
is like, oh okay, so that's not like completely normal thing,
(26:40):
but it is also yes you. I mean I could
I always joke web MD as like a horoscope. I
could read it and be like, I probably have this
and it could be nothing close to what I have like,
so it is like a it's good, it's bringing awareness,
but it is important to know where it's coming from
and to do further research before you you self medicate
(27:04):
or self diagnose. So yeah, it's just both.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
You know.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Well when you said that the horoscoping thing, actually there
was one article that talked about the horoscope effect.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Really, Yes, what is called people.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Read symptoms online or hear someone discuss the experience and
feel connected to it so much so that they both
now believe they may have the same diagnosis. The bold
proclamations as of like predicting it or something along the lines.
But yeah, apparently that is a whole theory within psychologists
when it comes to predicting or the disorder they used
(27:39):
to TikTok.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
I just feel like a lot of times we all
do it. But there are some symptoms that are just
common amongst a lot of things, right, And for me,
one of them is my heart beats really fast. Not
all the time, but sometimes it's fast. Yeah, and that
is just a symptom amongst all things. And it could
(28:01):
just be and I fingers cross suspected is I'm anxious?
Speaker 3 (28:05):
Right?
Speaker 1 (28:06):
But if I go on to womend it's like Jesus.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
This and you would do good. Yeah, but we can't
negate that because women more women died than men every
year of a heart attack or heart related uh fatalities.
So part of this is like being told we're being paranoid,
but at the same time it's actually true because no
(28:29):
one listens and what which part do we listen to?
And it should be better safe than sorry, But we
as women have been so shamed yeah, to be healthy
that we're we are afraid to go to doctors half
the time.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Yes, and it costs money and it takes time. So
it's like really unfortunate. Some people's healthcare is really bad. Yes,
yes it is. But yeah, so I think it's like
more complicated than saying like one side is bad. I
don't know, right, it's just it's it's more nuanced than that, right. Yes, Well,
(29:05):
thank you for bringing this to Samantha. Believe we're going
to talk about episode coming up about why you were
thinking about this, but our our calendars and flux, so
we'll see.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
I think this is going to be ahead of this,
but yes, we'll.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Talk about why why you were thinking about this?
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Yes, all right, Well in the meantime, you can contact
us listeners if you have any thoughts about this. Our
email is Stephania mom Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com. You
can find us on Twitter at mom Stuff podcast, or
on Instagram and TikTok at stuff one. Never told you
we have a teapubook store and we do have a book. Yes,
and thanks as always too, our super producer Christina, our
(29:45):
executive producer Maya, and our contributor Joey. Thank you and
thanks to you for listening. Steffan never told you the
production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio,
you can check out the Art radio app, Apple podcast,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Stuff Mom Never Told You News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Samantha McVey
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